William Paul Cook (August 31, 1881 – January 22, 1948) was a writer, printer and publisher. He wrote under his own name and the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Willis T. Crossman, and was a leading figure in

amateur journalism Amateur journalism is a hobby for starting small newspapers established after the U.S. Civil War, using small and inexpensive printing presses. Local circulation and exchanges, sometimes among associations were done. Conventions were also held. T ...

. He lived and wrote mostly in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Biography

Cook was born on August 31, 1881, in

Mount Tabor, Vermont Mount Tabor is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 210 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.11%, is water. Half ...

. His mother died giving birth, and he was raised by his aunt and uncle. He attended Dartmouth but did not graduate. Among his works is a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

about

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

, originally published as ''In Memoriam: Howard Phillips Lovecraft'' (Driftwind Press, 1941); Cook typeset this himself. This memoir has been reprinted several times, including by Mirage Press in 1968 under the title ''H.P. Lovecraft: A Portrait''. Cook also wrote stories about Vermont. He met Lovecraft through the National Amateur Press Association, and quickly became a champion of his weird fiction, some of which was first published in Cook's journal, ''The Vagrant''. Cook also broadened Lovecraft's familiarity with supernatural literature by loaning him books and encouraging a systematic study of the field that resulted in Lovecraft's famous essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature," which was first published in Cook's ''The Recluse'' (1927), of which only a single issue was published.David E. Schultz, S. T. Joshi, eds., ''An Epicure in the Terrible: A Centennial Anthology of Essays in Honor of H.P. Lovecraft'' (

Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (FDU Press) is a publishing house under the operation and oversight of Fairleigh Dickinson University, the largest private university in New Jersey. History FDU Press was established in 1967 by the university ...

, 1991, , p. 11 & passim
Excerpts available
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

. In addition to the various journals he published, including ''The Vagrant'', ''The Recluse'', ''The Revenant'', ''The Ghost'', and ''Monadnock'', Cook published books under the Recluse Press imprint. Some of them were by members of the Lovecraft Circle, such as Samuel Loveman, Frank B. Long Jr. (

Frank Belknap Long Frank Belknap Long Jr. (April 27, 1901 – January 3, 1994) was an American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. Though his writing career spanned seven decades, he is best k ...

Donald Wandrei Donald Albert Wandrei (20 April 1908 – 15 October 1987)Minnesota Death Certificates Index
. ...

, Walter J. Coates (proprietor of the Driftwind Press), and Lovecraft himself.

Leland Hawes Leland Mosley Hawes Jr. (June 18, 1929 – May 18, 2013) was an American newspaper reporter for the ''Tampa Tribune''. He had a long tenure at the paper and was involved in various projects after leaving the paper, including serving on the comm ...

and Sean Donnelly edited a collection of regional stories that Cook wrote under a pseudonym, ''Willis T. Crossman's Vermont: Stories by W. Paul Cook'' (published by the University of Tampa Press). Donnelly also edited a companion volume, ''W. Paul Cook: The Wandering Life of a Yankee Printer'', collecting writings by and about Cook, to which he contributed a long biography of Cook and a bibliography of his numerous publications. It was published by Derrick Hussey's

Hippocampus Press Hippocampus Press is an American publisher that specializes in "the works of H. P. Lovecraft and his literary circle". Founded in 1999 and based in New York City, Hippocampus is operated by founder Derrick Hussey. As of 2017, it has issued ove ...

.A. C. Hutchiso
A hobby and a discovery; Two amateur journalists resurrect the colorful tales of Vermont writer W. Paul Cook
, '' Times Argus'', January 9, 2005.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, W. Paul 1881 births 1948 deaths American male journalists Dartmouth College alumni